If you insist on shopping this time of year, please make your gifts useful. It’s a great time of year to buy for your gardening friends and family. There are great things out there for hobbyists and hard-core food growers alike. Just because winter is settling in, we shouldn’t forget about the garden!
The seed catalogs roll in about the time all the other ones do. You know, the annoying ones that only come once a year even though you’ve put yourself on the Please-Don’t-Mail-Me-That-Crap list, the ones that are full of low quality gimmicks. Despite that, every devoted and newbie gardener is now drooling over new seed varieties and planning next year’s plot.
> First, I’d like to say that anyone who feeds the birds in winter would LOVE a feeder, a birdhouse, nesting pockets, some suet or some seed. I have birds in my nesting pockets on winter nights. Last night, I saw a couple snuggling into an old nest in the eaves in a 45 mph wind. Gardeners know the value of birds and would love to take care of them over the winter!
> How about solar lighting for walkways? Nights are longer now, and the chances of your friends coming home in the dark are pretty big. Lights can also define a patio area for summer entertaining.
> You can buy gardening supplies year round at places like Lowe’s. Check your local hardware store and nursery, too. Most people think that, because the garden is tucked away for winter, you can’t find supplies. Out of sight, out of mind. Not so! Nurseries operate year round. Frequently, they are selling Christmas trees and wreaths.
> Find out where your friends prefer to buy seed and supplies, in real time or online. Gift certificates work well. I’d love a load of cotton burr compost, but getting it to my house might be difficult for someone. A gift certificate would work well for that.
> A garden journal
> Speaking of weather… every gardener needs to watch it. Consider buying a rain gauge, a barometer, a thermometer or a small home weather station (for weather geeks like me).
> Gardening how-to books make great gifts for new and experienced gardeners. From seed starting to seed collecting, anyone can learn every step in an entire growing season. I swear by my books on southwester and New Mexico native plants by Judith Phillips
> The garden can be dressed up with a bird bath, statues and reflective spheres. You can also find weather-proof benches to sit and enjoy the garden sights (and take notes in that garden journal!).
> Anyone can garden in containers! I grow a lot in containers, because our soil is too alkaline and heavy. Our season is short for warm weather plants like tomatoes and peppers. Growing them in pots lets me bring them into the greenhouse in fall and extend the season. Containers are perfect for patio gardening out back or on the 10th floor.
> For the garden shed, a potting bench is a practical gift along with watering cans, hose nozzles, trowels, pots and soil.
> Patio furniture or grilling supplies would probably go over well, too. Those may not be gifts used right away, but come summer, you’ll get invited to all those barbecues and be thanked profusely.
> Hats, gloves, aprons and shoes are small gifts. Chippers, composters and arbors are large gifts. All would be well-received.
There is an endless selection of gifts for the gardener on your list. From hobby to serious, cheap to expensive, get your friends excited about the next growing season!
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